March 24, 2003 - 9:21 p.m.

Visiting Venice

The trip to Venice was uneventful, despite the impending war. I was able to sleep a bit on the plane, but not soundly. Still, I was well-rested enough to make it through our first day in Venice. We landed at Marco Polo airport around 10AM, local time, and took a water shuttle to the Lido (a long narrow island that is very near the island of Venice itself) and checked into our hotel. Then we took a vaporetto (boats that are Venice's excellent form of public transportation) to Venice. We spent the afternoon wandering around the maze of streets and alleys and getting a feel for Venice. The city is compact, but it is nearly impossible to NOT get lost. There are no cars, so it is theoretically easy to get around, but the alleys, bridges, and squares make up a veritable labrynth. We enjoyed looking at the fabulous architecture which ranges from Gothic to Neoclassical and Baroque. I love historic architecture, so I loved just walking around and looking at it all. We passed many shops selling colorful Venetian glass, masks, and marbled paper. We had dinner and headed back to the hotel.

Friday Derek competed in the Magic tournament, so I was on my own in Venice. My first stop was the Correr Museum where I saw some beautiful Renaissance art and exhibits on the history of Venice (including fascinating maps, ship models, coins, and textiles.)

Next I went inside the incredible Basilica San Marco. Inside it is just as abundantly decorated, with the ceiling completely covered in stunning gilded mosaics of biblical scenes and inlaid marble floors.

In the afternoon, I visited the church of Santa Maria Dei Miracoli, which is smaller and simpler than many of the churches in Venice. That said, it still had plenty of marble, carving, and gilding. :)

I met back up with Derek at the hotel and we went out to dinner at a little restaraunt where I had penne all'arrabiata and tiramisu and Derek had tortelloni and swordfish. Tasty. :)

Since I am feeling quite tired, I think I will save the other day's events for tomorrow. I really haven't suffered much jet lag, but earlier I fell asleep watching TV, so I think it's early to bed for me.

today's project: getting reaquainted with the outdoors - hooray for spring!

musing about: was I really just in Venice?

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flutter back - fly ahead